Tim Hudson

Timothy Adam Hudson (born July 14, 1975), nicknamed "Huddy", is an American former professional baseball pitcher of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Hudson attended Glenwood School in Phenix City, Alabama where in his senior season he led the team to the 1993 AISA state championship.

He finished his high school career with a 12–1 record and a 1.78 ERA.

Despite his record, Hudson was considered undersized by scouts at 6'0" tall and 160 pounds and was not offered a scholarship to a major college. Hudson decided to attend a local two-year college, Chattahoochee Valley Community College (CVCC).

In 1994, his freshman year at CVCC, he earned First-team All American honors while leading his team to the AJCCC Division II championship.

He also led CVCC team in batting average (.385), home runs (9), RBI (42), wins (10–2), strikeouts (76), and was second on the team with a 2.76 ERA.

As a sophomore, he was named Second-team All American and set a school and conference record with 117 strikeouts which also led the nation.

As a hitter, Hudson batted .345 with 5 home runs, and 29 RBI.

His sophomore season ERA of 1.95 was the team and conference best.

Prior to his junior year, Hudson transferred to Auburn University where he would play two seasons.

He is still at or near the top of many school records.

Hudson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics twice, in the 35th round of the 1994 MLB Draft and again in the 6th round of the 1997 MLB draft, signing in 1997.

In 1997, he played all 65 games for the Tigers while both pitching and playing outfield.

That season, he hit .396 with 18 home runs and 95 RBI.

As a pitcher, he finished 15–2 with a 2.97 ERA to earn SEC Player of the Year and consensus All-American honors.

Tim was the first player to be named First Team All-SEC at two positions (P,OF) in the same year.

He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 6th round of the 1997 amateur draft.

After spending his college years at Chattahoochee Valley Community College and Auburn University, Hudson played in the major leagues for the Oakland Athletics (1999–2004), the Atlanta Braves (2005–13), and the San Francisco Giants (2014–15).

He made his Major League debut with a five inning start on June 8, 1999 against the San Diego Padres, where he allowed three earned runs in a game the Athletics eventually lost 5–3.

He recorded his first career win in his next start, on June 13 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He allowed only one run in seven innings of the 9–3 victory.

In 2000, he posted a career-high 20 victories along with a 4.14 ERA for Oakland.

He finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting behind Pedro Martínez.

Over the course of the next three seasons, Hudson's records were 18-9 in 2001, 15–9 in 2002 and 16–7 in 2003 with a career low 2.70 ERA.

In 2004, Hudson failed to pitch 30 games due to injury.

He went 12–6 in 27 starts.

Hudson's record while with the A's was 92–39, and an ERA of 3.30.

Before the 2005 season, Hudson was traded to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Charles Thomas, Dan Meyer, and Juan Cruz.

On August 6, 2005, Hudson won his 100th career game, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 8–1.

In January 2006, Hudson was named to the Team USA roster for the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

In his rookie season, Hudson had an 11–2 mark and finished 5th in the AL Rookie of the Year vote.

He became a member of Oakland's so-called "Big Three", along with left-handed pitchers Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.

With the Giants, he won the 2014 World Series over the Kansas City Royals.

He is now the varsity head coach for the Lee-Scott Academy baseball team, located in Auburn, AL.

During his 17-season career, Hudson established himself as one of baseball's most consistent pitchers and until 2014 had never had a season where he suffered more losses than wins.

Hudson was also named an All-Star four times: twice with Oakland, once with Atlanta, and once with San Francisco.

Before retiring in 2015, Hudson was the winningest active Major League pitcher, as well as one of four active pitchers with at least 200 career wins.

With a win against the Oakland A's on July 26, 2015, he has won a game against every team in the majors, the 15th pitcher to do so.

Hudson is one of twenty-one pitchers in Major League history to win at least 200 games, strike out at least 2,000 batters and have a winning percentage above .600.

Of those twenty-one, fourteen are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.